Follow the Leader 10/11/2006

From Follow the Leader:

Baseball Recap, Leaving The Boroughs At the start of the season, I asked some of you for your baseball picks (look here, here and here). So many people exhibited great courage and picked Mets/Yankees, so I'm not going to give anyone credit for that pick just yet. But as for people who stepped outside of New York to make their pick, a few are standing out. They are: Scott Gastel, Sheinkopf Communications: Yankees/Cardinals Rebecca Gale, communications director, Rep. Eliot Engel: Reds/Tigers. Scott Sala, Urban Elephants: Yankees/Cardinals. Steve Perez, organizer, Working Families Party: A's/Cardinals (best one yet). William Weitz, chief of staff, Rep. Eliot Engel: Yankees/Cardinals.

I know my stuff.

Daily Kos 8/21/2006

From Daily Kos:

Open Thread and Diary Rescue

Steve WFP's National Journal rankings shows New York is the swing state takes a look at the latest National Journal rankings of House races and provides some analysis.

Follow the Leader 7/19/2006

From Follow the Leader:

A Blow For Fair Share?

Maryland's version of the "Fair Share for Health Care" Act has been ruled illegal.

Follow the Leader 6/28/2006

From Follow the Leader:

Why We Lost, Why We Fight The Working Families Party has issued its own recap on why the "Fair Share for Health Care" Act failed to pass this year, promising to come back for the same fight next year. Quote: "People will still be getting sick next year. And the fact that nearly three million New Yorkers don't have health insurance will still be a disgrace. In 2007, the state will release a study showing to the dollar the cost that large low-road employers are shirking. Our task is to make sure that our new Governor understands that it is long past time for a comprehensive approach to health care, and such an approach will necessarily require an end to freeloading by large employers."

Follow the Leader 6/14/2006

From Follow the Leader:

Shut Up, Grover

The Working Families Party takes on Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist's analysis of the "Fair Share for Health Care" Act here.

And I do think my headlines are charming.

Follow the Leader 6/13/2006

From Follow the Leader:

Die, Fair Share, Die! Americans for Tax Reform are taking their own shots at the Working Families' Party-backed "Fair Share for Health Care" Act. "When the government tells businesses what to do and how much to do it for, workers and consumers bear the brunt by losing jobs and facing higher prices. The '"Fair Share' bill is like prescribing leeches to cure a fever. In removing the 'problem' of having some part-time jobs without health care, you also remove the 'problem' of having jobs, the lifeblood of economic growth," said ATR President Grover Norquist.

Follow the Leader 5/23/2006

From Follow the Leader:

WFP Fires Back

Pointing out that the Employment Policies Institute is a think tank funded by the restaurant industry, the Working Families Party has sent me a response to this item. In brief, here it is directly from their release:

1. Rhetoric: The Fair Share for Health Care bill will cost nearly 100,000 jobs.

Reality: This is exactly the argument that was made about minimum wage; it wasn't true then, and it's not true now...

2. Rhetoric: Fair Share for Health Care will not cover 83% of New York's uninsured.

Reality: The legislation does not purport to be a comprehensive solution to the crisis of New York’s uninsured. But it is a significant and practical first step that will cover more than 400,000 New Yorkers who work at large firms but are currently uninsured, as well as another 193,000 who work for large firms but receive health care through Medicaid and Family Health Plus.

3. Rhetoric: The bill makes health care more expensive for New York employers.

Reality: The bill makes health care less expensive for employers already providing decent, affordable benefits...

4. Rhetoric: The Fair Share bill will hurt New York's business climate.

Reality: The Fair Share bill will benefit New York businesses by:

- Reducing the burden on state and local taxpayers by nearly $1 billion annually as by shifting health care costs away from taxpayer-subsidized programs like Medicaid and back to employers who have tried to game the system by shifting these costs.

- Providing a level playing field for responsible local businesses that struggle to compete with multi-billion dollar corporations like Wal-Mart that do not offer decent, affordable benefits to their workers.

- Reducing the cost of health care for responsible employers.